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Healthy Eating: Eating Less Sodium

Introduction

It doesn't have to be, but you do have to think about it. You need to do more than just not use the salt shaker. After all, almost all foods contain sodium naturally or as an ingredient.

You can start reducing the sodium in your diet by:

Reading labels to see how much sodium foods contain.

Limiting packaged foods and restaurant foods, which typically are high in sodium.

Not adding salt to your food during cooking or at the table.

Using low-sodium spices and sauces to add flavor to your food. Low-sodium foods can still be tasty!

How can you reduce the amount of sodium you eat?

Getting started

Talk with your doctor about sodium. You'll learn how eating too much sodium may affect you and how much you may need to cut back. Have questions ready to ask.

Talk with a registered dietitian (RD). An RD can help you find out how much salt you are eating and find ways to cut back on salt. An RD can also teach you how to choose low-salt foods when eating out and make suggestions for low-sodium recipes and meals.

Remember that the biggest source of sodium in the diet is not salt added at the table. In general, the biggest source of sodium is processed foods and foods from restaurants. Processed foods include canned foods, frozen dinners, and packaged foods such as crackers and chips. They also include dry mixes, such as those you add to hamburger or noodles.

If you don't cook for yourself, let those who help you know that you want to eat less sodium. Show this information to family members, friends, or senior centers or other organizations.

Avoid high-sodium foods

Try not to eat high-sodium foods. These include:

Smoked, cured, salted, and canned meat, fish, and
poultry.

Ham, bacon, hot dogs, and lunch
meats.

Hard and processed cheese and some types of peanut
butter.

Frozen prepared
meals.

Canned vegetables and soups, broths, and bouillon.

Salted snack foods,
such as chips and crackers.

Pickles, sauerkraut, seasonings high in salt, and other condiments. These include steak
sauce, onion salt, garlic salt, mustard, ketchup, and especially soy sauce. Even light soy sauce is still very high in sodium.

Most restaurant food, especially fast food like french fries, hamburgers, pizza, and tacos.

Take the salt shaker off the table to avoid adding salt to your food. Try using half the salt a recipe calls for.

Don't cook with (or drink) softened water.

Try a low-sodium cookbook. It can be a big help if you aren't sure how to reduce the salt in your cooking.

Know how to find sodium

If you know how much sodium is in foods, you can have more flexibility in what you eat. If you eat one high-sodium food, you can balance it with very low-sodium foods during the rest of the day. To do this:

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How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions.